Forever Darkness
by Mistclaw
Summary: Halloween story I promised all of you! I know it's early but I couldn't wait to get it up! Oneshotness, hope you all like it! Rated M for blood. Psychotic killer gets Ed and Roy has to save him.


**Finally finished the damn Halloween oneshot, sorry if it seems rushed in the end, I just really really wanted to get it done while I still had the idea in my head. I'm rating this mature for blood and stuff, cause it's kinda gruesome like most of my stories.**

**My longest and best oneshot ever! lol the other ones are horrible and I really like this one. It ended up nearly 9 pages long, that makes me so happy! **

**Yeah I was listening to some evil songs, like little piece of heaven by avenged sevenfold, darkness embedded by divine heresy (which inspired the title), and some disturbed and all that remains songs :3 cause I have weird songs on my ipod (mainly depressing stuff and songs that make some of my friends sick :3)**

**So yes happy early Halloween! I can't wait for it to come, I splattered this white dress with blood and I'm being a dead bride! I love Halloween so much! **

**So hope you like it and remember Ed and I you!  
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Forever Darkness

It was dark, gray storm clouds covering the full moon. Cold October rain fell from the sky in an endless torrent, with lightning and thunder battling in the distant hills of Amestris. The street lamps cast an eerie watery golden glow onto the cobblestone road below. A lone boy walked through the downpour, head lowered and hands buried deep in his coat pockets.

Edward Elric was a fifteen year old boy, who happened to be a state alchemist. At the age of twelve he joined the military, not for the rank but for access to the Central library. When Edward was eleven he and his younger brother, Alphonse, tried to bring back their dead mother. The transmutation failed and Ed lost his left leg while Al had his whole body taken. In a desperate act of guilt and love Edward gave up his right arm for his brother's soul, which was bound to a large suit of armor by a seal drawn in Ed's blood.

The boys were currently searching for anyway to regain their original bodies, and that meant traveling around the country searching for the legendary philosopher's stone. Each little lead always led to the same thing, a dead end and disappointment, then a lecture from Colonel Mustang back at headquarters.

The young blonde had just returned from one of those lectures, which was normally Edward's superior telling him how this failure was a setback, to Ed and Mustang both. It would end with both of them yelling, Edward storming out of the office with the Colonel yelling at him until he left the building.

Edward didn't care if the rain soaked through his clothing, which consisted of a long red coat over a black tank top. He wore leather pants and large boots, which most people called elevator shoes since they seemed to make the short alchemist look taller. His long golden hair rested in between his shoulders, braided and clinging to the red fabric with moisture.

"Bastard, he acts like the philosopher's stone is right under our noses. I'd like to see him running all over the countryside looking for that damn stone." Edward punched the air with his automail arm, taking his anger out on an imaginary foe, which happened to look like Colonel Mustang in his mind. Normally he would walk home with Alphonse but today Mustang wanted to see him in private, which meant Al was at home probably reading books like mad for any lead.

Ed sighed and put his face in his hand, closing his golden eyes in frustration. That whole meeting with Colonel Bastard had taken too much time, he could have been reading with his brother and comparing notes in that wasted time.

"Damn colonel, I just wish he would light himself on fire and give us all a break." Edward continued to walk with his eyes closed, enjoying the feel of his heavy lids resting over his eyes. Once he got back to the small apartment he shared with his brother he would probably sleep.

Then there was the sound of footsteps behind him, someone sloshing through the deepening puddles of rainwater. Edward looked behind him to see a tall figure in a long black trench coat behind him, hood over his head hiding his face. Ed shivered in discomfort and began to walk slightly faster, hoping that the man would turn into one of the alleys that led to other apartments.

His heart began to thunder in his chest when he realized the man had picked up his pace as well, the sound of splashing echoing off the walls. Edward looked behind again to see glowing green eyes from beneath the hood. Right when he was about to run the man grabbed him from behind, one hand covering his mouth, the other wrapped around both of Ed's hands.

The man dragged Edward into a nearby alley, dragging the writhing teen through deep murky puddles.

"Shush, be quiet and it'll all be over soon." The man said in an unfamiliar voice, one full of mock love and concern. Ed struggled vainly to free his hands, but the man's grip was to strong. He bit down on the man's hand, digging his teeth deep into the flesh. With a hiss of anger the man took his hand off of Edward's mouth, swearing under his breath.

"Help! Someone please help me!" Ed cried into the dark street, but no one was there to hear the boy's screams. The man reached into his pocket and produced a syringe, filled halfway with a clear liquid. With one quick movement the needle was in Edward's neck, plunger pushed down to release the liquid into his blood.

At once Edward's struggling became weaker, his movements slow and stiff. To Ed it felt like his whole body was made of stone, nothing moved the way he wanted it to. His golden eyes slowly closed and he went limp in the man's arms, blonde bangs falling over his face, hiding his expression. The man smiled and hoisted the boy over his right shoulder, carrying him deeper into the alley and into an old abandoned house.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The strange man whistled the whole way down the alley and into the dark house. At one time it was probably beautiful, but now the whole home was falling down slowly. A once sparkling crystal chandler now lay on the floor in a heap of broken glass and dust. The white paint on the walls was peeled away revealing the old bricks underneath.

Then there was the stairs that groaned and creaked with every step. The man carefully put each foot in front of the other, making sure that the stairs wouldn't decide to collapse on him and his new toy. He could feel the boy's warm breath on the back of his neck; hear his young heart beating rhythmically to life's song. The boy was quiet, but the man just couldn't wait to hear that silence broken by the boy's shrieks of pain and fear.

Once the man had reached the top of the stairs he walked down the short hall and into the last room on the right, closing the old wooden door behind him. This was the room that he had prepared for this moment, waiting for the right time to strike at his prey, like a cat hiding in a bush waiting to pounce on the tasty mouse in front of it. The room had a long table near the side, on the old surface silver instruments gleamed in the dark, soon that shimmering silver would be stained with crimson blood.

The man put the boy down on the dusty floor, making sure that his body making contact with the wood didn't make any noise. He smiled and gently moved his hands down the limp body, memorizing every contour and curve in the young body. The man first pulled the golden hair from its braid, watching as the blonde strands spread over the boy's neck and back. He ran his fingers through the hair, smiling at the softness of it.

"You're almost like an angel pulled to earth aren't you?" The man asked, not expecting any answer from the unconscious teen. His smile widened as he pulled off the red coat, throwing it into one of the dark corners of the room. He looked at the automail arm, running his hand over the cold metal slowly. The man then took off the boy's shirt, throwing it into the same corner as the jacket. He could see that the boy was lean and muscular for his age; he ran his hand down the boy's stomach, feeling the warm skin that covered muscles.

"Such a gorgeous boy aren't you? Probably have all the girls chasing after you." With that the man unbuckled the teen's belt, unzipping his pants and taking off his boots and socks. The clothing received the same treatment as the others, thrown into the dark corner to make mound of fabric and leather. The only thing left on the boy was his boxers, which happened to be a light blue.

With one swift movement the boy's boxers were removed, leaving him naked and unconscious on the floor, at the mercy of the strange man. He carefully picked the boy up from the floor, holding the limp body close to his own. The man moved over to one of the walls, were chains hung from the old bricks.

"My little prisoner." The man's smile grew bigger as he lifted the boy up, so that he could chain his automail arm to the wall. With his other hand the man chained the teens other wrist to the wall, letting him go so he hung from his thin wrists. Next he chained the boy's feet together, the stepped back to admire his work.

Edward resembled a fallen angel chained to a cross; only this cross was an old wall and instead of nails in his hands and feet there was chains to hold him up. He just couldn't wait to send this angel back to his unearthly domain, never to return.

"Little fallen angel you will soon return to heaven, and I will send you there, slowly." The man smiled and ran his hand down the boy's face, feeling the warm clean flesh before it would become red with his own blood.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Roy Mustang leaned back in his chair, crossing his hands to cover his face. His dark raven colored hair partially covered his even darker eyes, constantly making him look angry when he wasn't. There was only one person on the face of the planet that could piss Roy off. That person happened to be Edward Elric, the Fullmetal alchemist.

Roy hated it when Fullmetal would yell back at him, even though what Roy was telling him was the truth. In the almost three years they spent searching for the infamous philosopher's stone they had little to nothing to show their progress. Every time they came back empty handed, which happened a lot, Roy would give Edward a little lecture, normally telling him that his progress was slower than hoped. Ed would always flip on him, saying that the colonel was treating him like a kid.

He sighed and closed his eyes, trying to soothe the headache he had received after Ed had stormed out of his office nearly an hour ago. Then the phone on his desk began to ring, sending daggers of pain into his head. Roy opened his eyes and grabbed the phone, gritting his teeth in anger. He picked up the phone and held it to his ear, and as calmly as he could muster he asked, "Hello this is Colonel Roy Mustang, how may I help you?"

_"Colonel?" _Roy sat up quickly at the hollow metallic voice over the other end of the phone. Even though his voice was light and innocent like a young child's the boy calling over the phone had seen things that young boys his age should never have to witness.

"Alphonse, what's going on? Is Ed being a little demon after my lecture?" He sat back in his chair, thinking that the problem would be easily solved if Roy just told Al to beat on his older brother once and a while. But what he heard next wiped the smug smile off of his face.

_"That's the problem, brother isn't here. I hoped that you had kept him a little later but that doesn't seem to be the case. He should have been home by now, and he hasn't called saying he'll be late…I'm starting to get a little worried." _Roy could tell from the young boy's voice that he was on the verge of panic, the two brothers always knew where the other was, and now that Ed was missing…

"Calm down Alphonse, he's probably fine okay?" Just then the other line buzzed, signaling that somebody else was calling. "Someone's calling me right now, it's probably him okay."

_"Call me if it is him. Bye." _With that Al hung up and Mustang switched to the second line, narrowing his eyes hoping that Ed could see his glare through the phone.

"Fullmetal this isn't funny, you know you have your brother worried sick! Where the hell are you?" He growled into the phone. There was no answer for a while but then a voice spoke that sent shivers down Roy's spine, freezing the blood in his veins.

_"Why hello Colonel Mustang, sorry to tell you that I'm not Ed. But he is here with me; he's a little tied up at the moment and half asleep. Would you like to speak to him?" _The voice was so cold and just plain eerie. Roy shivered at what the man had said.

"Let me speak with him."

_"Okay, hold on." _There was the sound of a small squeak of confusion and pain, and at that moment Roy knew something bad was happening. _"Here Edward, its Colonel Mustang."_

"Edward!" Roy cried into the phone. There was a small moan, by the sound of it the teen was in pain and probably was just woken up.

_"Ughn, Colonel?" _Even though the voice was slurred and quiet he could tell that the man was telling the truth.

"Edward, where are you?" Right when Roy asked there was a small cry of pain and then silence. He felt his body tense as the man got back on the phone.

_"He's tired; you should let him sleep now. You'll probably see him soon, if the sweet little angel isn't dead by then." _With that the man hung up, leaving Roy holding the dead phone in shock and terror.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Edward slowly began to open his eyes, regaining consciousness to the horrible scene around him. At first his head hurt to bad to notice the man standing in front of him, staring at the boy with a crazed expression. Then he saw him, the man just standing there, staring, just staring.

"Why good morning Edward, sleep well?" The man asked in a mockingly sweet tone, almost like a worried mother. Ed glared at him, slowly noticing that he was hanging from the wall, wrists and ankles bound to the cold bricks by thick chains. Then he realized that he was naked, and that made the man's staring even worse.

"W-w-w-who are you?" Edward asked, shivering with cold and fear. The man's crazed smile grew wider as he walked closer to him, glowing green eyes meeting terrified gold.

"My name isn't important, but I'm known as Slash. You'll see why very soon." Ed shivered as the man placed his hand on his chest, running a hand over warm flesh.

"Why am I here?" He asked, trembling as the man walked away from him, walking over to one of the walls. There was the sound of metal hitting metal, the flash of silver instruments glowing in the full moons light.

"Because I needed a new toy, the old one broke." Slash walked back, a knife glinting in his hand. Ed struggled against his chains, desperately trying to move away from the approaching knife. Slash seemed to like that he was struggling for his smile seemed to grow.

"Is the little boy scared?" He asked, standing in front of Edward, knife inches away from the teens face. Ed didn't even yell at him for calling him small, he just stared at the knife, watching it's every move, hypnotized with fear. Slash moved the knife away from his face, slowly running it down so it could rest on the boy's chest. With one swift motion the knife slashed through flesh and muscle, creating a large gash. Edward shrieked in pain and fear, writhing against his bindings, making the blood flow from his wound like a small crimson river.

"Calm down, I won't kill you just yet, not until your colonel can see the end of your life." Another slash and another scream of agony as the knife dug into Ed's side, just missing vital organs. Slash twisted the knife, getting a drawn out shriek from Edward. Blood was running from the fresh wound, and now it was running from his open mouth, joining the blood on the floor to form a small puddle.

"Stop! Stop! Please stop!" He shrieked, moving his head back and forth in swift motions. Slash cocked his head to the side and smiled.

"Why stop now? The fun has just begun." With that he pulled the knife from the young boys flesh. Edward knew that this man was enjoying his screams of pain, but he was unable to stop them as the knife made a deep cut on his left cheek. Tears streamed from his eyes, light red liquid running from bloodshot golden eyes.

"Please…please just stop…" He lowered his head, bangs covering his face from his tormentor. Slash laughed, his only response to Edward's statement was another gash added to his chest. The blonde just hung limply from his bindings, whimpering and moaning in pain, eyes closed hoping to escape from the horror around him.

"You're not as much fun anymore." Slash said in a disappointed voice, slashing the boy's flesh leg from the thigh to the knee. Edward flinched and let out a sad whimper, struggling weakly against the chains. The he felt rough hands lifting his head up, seeing a pair of eyes glaring at him.

"Scream dammit! I want you to beg for mercy, not just hang there!" Slash hissed, knife raised in his other hand, ready to strike.

"Screaming won't help." Ed whispered, looking at the man with hatred in his eyes, "The only screaming will be from you once I'm out of these chains!" There was a glint of silver and he screamed in pain as the knife went deep into his left shoulder, just missing the bone.

"That's more like it, now scream! Scream more!" Slash twisted the knife, making the wound even deeper and longer. Edward couldn't help but shriek at the top of his lungs, all his strength going into his cries of pain and terror.

"Stop! Get that fucking knife out of me!" He screamed, writhing against the chains, which made a horrid clinking sound against the brick wall. Slash smiled and leaned towards the boy, his face inches from Ed's.

"This will never stop, even if you get away from me I'll be watching. You'll never be safe again." He pulled the knife from the boy's shoulder and backed away, watching as Edward took in those words.

"You won't be able to get to me, Mustang and Al will stop you!" He cried, but his voice betrayed how scared he really was. Slash shrugged and smiled up at Ed.

"I'll just kill everyone around you then, so that it'll just be you and me, forever." His sentence seemed to cut the boy deeper than any of the knife wounds inflicted on him already. Slash could see the hope drain from the blonde's eyes, only to be replaced with pure terror.

"No! No! No!" Ed shrieked, tugging against the chains until his flesh wrist and ankle bled. He continued to scream bloody murder as something deep within him shattered, all the peace, sanity and safety broke, like a mirror getting hit with a rock. Slash smiled at this reaction, the words had struck the boy even deeper and harder than he could have hoped for.

"Yes Edward, I'll always be near, hiding in the shadows waiting for my chance to strike." Edward continued screaming, his cries becoming weaker and weaker as his body began to lose more blood. The boy was shaking in terror and weakness, looking at the ground with desolate eyes. Then his screaming stopped and he went limp in his chains, eyes glazing over before closing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Mustang looked at the troops that surrounded his desk, each armed and ready to take on the psychotic killer that had Ed. His men each wore the same expression, an expression of hatred for the man who had the young alchemist.

"Okay, I'll go in first with Havoc, Hawkeye and Breda. Fuery and Falman you come in when Hawkeye fires her gun, no matter why she shots it assume that it's for the worse." They all nodded and Mustang stood up, putting on his glove with anger burning in his dark eyes. He marched ahead of his men and stormed out of headquarters, people looking at him and his troops as they left the building. There were two cars out front waiting for them, the first group went into the first car and the others went into the second car.

"So where did you say the place was?" Hawkeye asked, starting the car and pulling away from the curb.

"The call came from a cell phone in an abandoned building on thirty second street." Mustang was looking out the window, anxiety and anger mixed in his gaze. He knew that the man who called must have known that military lines are bugged, making it possible to track him down, that must mean that he either planned to kill Ed when they got there, or his troops would find the young boy's body.

Mustang hoped that Ed was still alive; hopefully knowing that help was on the way. But that man could have done anything to the boy, everyone just hoped that nothing bad had happened to him. Edward was like a little brother to all the men in his office, if anyone hurt their brother they would slaughter them.

The drive was only around six minutes but with the tension in the air it seemed like hours on the road. Mustang got out first, followed by the first group, the others hid in the alley, guns ready and serious looks on their faces.

He nodded and Breda broke down the door, leading them into a large dark room. They were silent for only twenty seconds with a horrified scream broke the silence. Everyone turned to look up the stairs, towards the sound of Edward's desperate cry. On a silent signal the four of them ran up the stairs, not caring that they creaked and groaned, and into the hall, running towards the last room on the right. Mustang opened the door and stepped inside, catching the horrible sight before him and his men.

A strange man with long black hair was holding Ed's limp, naked body in his arms. The boy's skin looked almost translucent against the bloody wounds that were scattered across his body. His eyes were half open but it didn't seem that he was completely with them. The thing that caught Mustang's attention was the silver knife pressed against Edward's neck.

"Hello Mustang, so glad you could make it in time. I thought the boy would bleed out before you got here." The man shrugged and pushed the knife harder into Fullmetal's neck, beads of blood staining the knife. Ed just whimpered pathetically and closed his eyes.

"Let him go, we won't hesitate to shoot." Hawkeye raised her gun, pointing it directly at the man's head. He laughed and looked at them with crazed eyes.

"Kill me then, I've already done enough damage to this boy to last him a lifetime." The man pushed the knife deeper into Ed's throat and slashed. A gunshot sounded around the room and he fell, lying next to Fullmetal's limp body.

"Edward!" Mustang cried, running to the boy who was trembling in pain and fear. He looked at Edward's neck and saw that the wound wasn't deep enough to kill, just enough to scar him and need stitches. The boy's eyes were open and staring at Mustang, looking blankly at his commanding officer.

"You're safe now Ed, you're alright." Mustang was shocked when the boy started screaming, golden eyes full of terror. He pulled himself away from the colonel and dragged his weak body over the bloody ground, desperately trying to get away.

"Never safe! Slash is here! He's watching me! He's going to get me!" Edward shrieked, curling up in the corner of the room that had his clothes in it. Mustang watched as the boy burrowed into the clothing, trembling with fear. Sobs escaped the broken teen in the corner, shaking his weak body even more than before.

"Edward, its okay really, Slash is dead and he won't get you." Mustang stood up and walked over to the boy, kneeling down in front of him, resting his hand on his trembling shoulder. Edward lifted his head from his clothes and looked up at him, panic still glittering in his eyes.

"He'll always be watching, watching from the shadows…never safe…no one is safe around me…he'll kill you all…" Ed was mumbling to himself, rocking back and forth like a mad man. Then he began to laugh, rasping sounds that came up from his dry throat.

"Calm down chief." Havoc said from behind Mustang. Ed looked up and smiled, he looked so damaged and broken.

"He said I wasn't safe…the pain and terror will never end…me and slash forever…forever in darkness…" Mustang moved forward and in one swift motion Edward's body was in his arms, held in a tight embrace.

"Edward you're safe, he can't come and get you from beyond the grave. I know you don't believe in ghosts because you're smart." He whispered into the boy's bloody blonde hair. Ed's laughing stopped and he began to tremble in fear once again.

"Don't leave me ever, please…it hurt so bad…he wouldn't stop either…" Edward went limp in Mustang's arms, eyes closing as his body did the only thing it could do in his moment of terror. Mustang sighed and lifted the boy from the floor, draping his red jacket over the naked body.

"He needs to get to the hospital, Fuery call the police and tell them what happened." Fuery nodded and pulled out his phone, dialing nine one one quickly. Mustang walked out of the building with Hawkeye following him, her eyes locked on Edward's nearly lifeless body.

"Poor thing, he'll need help once he gets better." She whispered, ruffling his bangs. Mustang nodded and opened the car door with one hand, sliding into the back with Edward's limp body still in his arms.

"Yeah he will, but he's strong. Remember when we went to see him and he looked so broken? You saw emptiness in his eyes while I saw his inner fire." Mustang looked down at the boy in his arms and smiled, "Yes, you'll get better won't you Ed?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A month had gone by before Edward was able to leave the hospital, but he was still in therapy for the horrible night that he had experienced. Mustang had kept his promise and the brother's were currently staying with him in his small apartment. Ed slept in the guest room with Al, normally staying awake until Al soothed him to sleep.

In the darkest part of the night Ed could swear he saw Slash sitting in the corner, insane smile on his mouth and that blood stained knife in his hand. Normally he would wake up screaming and crying, holding onto his brother until his panic attack ended. But Ed was slowly getting better, with the help of Mustang and Al his mind was recovering.

He would always remember that night; he had the scars to remind him of it. The scar on his neck stood out the most, an angry red line that ran across his neck like a strange necklace.

Edward would never forget the night that darkness took over; even when he would eventually get better he would always be scared of the dark shadows and what hid in them.


End file.
